THE families of 10 Protestant textile workers murdered by the IRA in south Armagh have decided to postpone a controversial walk this Saturday which was to retrace the last journey of their loved ones.
The walk, intended to press for justice for those killed in the Kingsmills Massacre in 1976, was to follow the 3.5-mile route from Glennane to Kingsmills, where the IRA singled the men out by religion from a minibus and gunned them down with 161 bullets.
However, Sinn Fein and the SDLP opposed the procession going through the strongly nationalist village of Whitecross, one of the last sights seen by the 10 men. Tensions were mounting as the event approached.
But last night Pastor Barrie Halliday, who had been given a death threat for representing the families in the matter, said they had decided to postpone it.
“The families do not wish to have 20 of them forced through Whitecross by 20 Land Rovers,” he said. “Only when Whitecross welcomes them will they go.”
He proposed that a victim, a clergyman and a politician from each side shake hands when the walk eventually passes through the village.
“The families want to walk through Whitecross with their heads held high in recognition of the equality of their suffering with everyone else on this island, and in recognition of the 10 innocent men.”
He said the families’ minds were sealed after burying one of their number yesterday – 86-year-old Betty McDowell, whose brother Johnny Bryans was one of those murdered in the massacre. Before she died she said would like to be able to meet the men who killed her brother “and ask them why they did it”.
The original application for the march, by FAIR director Willie Frazer, proposed that 11 bands and up to 600 people would take part. However this was later withdrawn on advice by Pastor Halliday.
“People in south Armagh are playing catch up with the rest of the country because there has been no recognition of what unionists suffered down here in the Troubles,” the pastor said. “We are postponing this march to give everyone a breathing space to think about these things.”
The Parades Commission determined that the parade could go ahead, but that only 23 people could go through the village; the sole survivor of the massacre - Alan Black - and two relatives from each family.
The Historical Enquiries Team (HET) report on the massacre pinned the murders on the IRA, which Sinn Fein then denied. However ballistics records linked the attack to 37 other murders and six convicted terrorists, who were named by HET in their report.
The UVF murdered three Catholic brothers from the Reavey family in Whitecross the day before the massacre - the same village the Kingsmills victims drove through on their last journey. Some people have justified the Kingsmill massacre as retaliation for the UVF murders. However HET said the “purely sectarian” IRA murders had been planned long before the UVF attack.
UUP MLA for Newry and Armagh Danny Kennedy, last night welcomed the decision to call off the walk.
“The decision not to march on Saturday does not in any way take away from the need to obtain clear answers as to who carried out the massacre at Kingsmills,” he said. “There is still palpable hurt within the local Unionist community. The recent report which was undertaken by the Historical Enquiries Team highlighted the need for many questions still to be answered. Only by discovering the truth will closure and healing be brought to the families who lost loved ones in this horrific tragedy.”
DUP MLA William Irwin said last night that the Kingsmills families are “understandably frustrated that no one has been brought to justice for this atrocity. I continue to support their right to have a peaceful and dignified walk where they can highlight this injustice,” he added.
Newry & Armagh Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy said last night that the people of Whitecross “did not want this march and there will be relief that it is cancelled”.
He added: “The Kingsmills families have been commemorating their loved ones for years now without any objections so there was no need for a march.”
However Colin Worton, whose brother Kenneth was murdered at Kingsmills, last night said it was “really offensive to my family that a convicted terrorist like Conor Murphy is standing up to speak to us like this. He is supposed to be the MP for everyone in Newry and Armagh yet his party cannot even admit the IRA carried out this massacre at Kingsmills.”
SDLP MLA Dominic Bradley said community relations in the area “have been improving over the years and anything which threatened that continued improvement was viewed by people with concern”. He added: “I hope now that life in the area can continue in a spirit of community harmony without disruption”.
UUP MLA Mr Kennedy last night renewed his appeal to Taoiseach Enda Kenny to meet the Kingsmills families, to hear their stories first hand and discuss how those suspected of the massacre enjoyed safe haven in the south for many years.
The Stormont minister has been asking the Taoiseach to meet the Kingsmills families for nine months but has complained he has only been getting “holding replies” in response.
“I would again reiterate my call for the Taoiseach to meet with the Kingsmills families,” he said. “Regretfully, it appears that some elements within the Irish Government appear to be hampering any attempt to organise a meeting. This is very disappointing and does nothing to bolster the confidence of the families or indeed the Unionist community in looking to address the past. I know that the Taoiseach has indicated that he is willing to meet with the families and I would respectfully ask him to ensure that this meeting happens as a matter of urgency.”
The News Letter asked the Department of the Taoiseach for comment yesterday afternoon, but there had been no response at the time of going to press.